Detachable hanger



May 16, 196] L. E. HAMEL 2,983,980

DETACHABLE HANGER Filed March 19, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LEW/6 E. HAMELINVENTOR.

I ATTORNEY May 16, 1961 L. E. HAMEL DETACHABLE HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed March 19, 1958 LEW/S E. HAMEL INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1961 United States Patent ffice DETACHABLEHANGER Lewis E. Hamel, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Lewis E. Hamel Co.,Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 19, 1958,Ser- No. 722,435

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-239) This invention relates to a detachable hanger forsupporting sides of beef and other relatively heavy loads to which thehanger can be readily attached and which can be suspended from anyconventional metal support.

In handling sides of beef and other butchered pieces of meat, it iscustomary in packing houses and in transporting them in freight cars toemploy metal hangers which are attached to the load and suspended from asupport. Such metal hangers are heavy and costly to transport, they notinfrequently permit a side of beef to fall to the floor of a freight carwhen jolted during transportation, and present the possibility ofcontamination when touching the meat, and it is a particular objectiveof the invention to overcome these disadvantages by providing a strongand extremely light weight hanger that is positively locked to the sideof beef or other load and presents no metal or other contaminatingsurface in contact with the meat.

More specifically the invention is designed to afiord a nylon hangerthat can be quickly engaged with a side of beef in such manner that thelatter cannot become accidentally separated from the hanger, affordingan inexpensive structure that will support loads from 250 lbs. to 1000lbs. or more, which will wear indefinitely and not be affected byfrictional contact with the metal from which it is suspended.

The invention has the advantages of greatly reducing Fig. 8 is a detailsectional view on line 88 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view on line 9--9 of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 10 is a detail side elevation looking toward the latch.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like referencenumerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, theinvention is illustrated as embodied in one practical form consisting ofa generally loop-shaped body comprising two separable ends which can beinterlocked and held in locked relation by a retaining collar.

The hanger is preferably molded or otherwise formed of nylon or othersuitable material that is of light weight, slightly flexible andelastic, and sulficiently strong to bear weights of approximately 1000lbs. or more, and having no contaminating effect upon meat. Toaccomplish this, the hanger consists of a generally loop-shaped bodyportion including a side 1, a bottom 2, a top 3, and separableconnecting and locking portions 4 and 5 respectively. The body of thehanger including side 1, bottom 2, and locking portion 5 are ofcylindrical cross section with a diameter of approximately 75 while thetop portion 3 of the body is preferably approximately $6 in diameter toafiord a greater strength and durability at the point where the hangeris suspended from a metal support such as 6, see Fig. 1.

The connecting portion 4 is =of rectangular crosssection and providedwith a locking recess 7, see Fig. 7, which has a dished bottom endwiseand crosswise terminating in a shoulder 8 extending entirely around thebottomof the recess from one side to the other. The

' recess 7 terminates in a cylindrical opening 9, while the the shippingcost of beef by the reduction in the weight of the hangers, andpresenting substantial gains by eliminating compensation claims for meatthat is lost or damaged by falling from conventional metal or otherhangers, and also reducing the possibility of contamination by removingall metal from contact with the meat.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction andarrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the followingdescription when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, thenovel features being pointed out in the claims following thespecification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing one embodiment of theinvention operatively attached to a side being transported in a freightcar or suspended from a support in a packing house;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation in actual size of the hanger with the endsseparated;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation in actual size of the hanger with the endslocked together-as in Fig. 1 and showing the concealed parts in dottedlines;

Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation of the hanger with the ends lockedtogether, looking at the side opposite to that of Fig. 1, with theretaining collar removed;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the hanger;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 6 with the retaining collaromitted and the locking portion of the hanger removed from the lockingrecess;

locking portion 5 of the hanger terminates in a tapered and curvedlocking member 10 shaped to conform to the recess 7 and extendinglaterally beyond the body 5 to provide a shoulder 11 that seats on theshoulder 8 in the recess when the locking portion 5 is engaged in theopening 9, see Fig. 6. When in this position, the outer surface of thelocking member 10 and cylindrical body 5 which are flattened at thispoint are flush with and form a corrtinuous surface with the flattenedouter surface 12 of the connecting portion 4 of the body.

The nylon body is sufficiently flexible and elastic to permit thelocking portion 5 to be removed from the connecting portion 4 as in Fig.2, or to be inserted therein as in Fig. 3, and in order to maintain theseparable end portions interlocked, there is provided a slidablerectangular retaining collar 13 having a rectangular opening thereinwhich engages and slides over the rectangular connecting portion 4 untilit engages and is limited by the shoulder 14, as shown in Fig. 3. Whenin this position, the retaining collar 13 overlies the locking member 10and holds it engaged in the recess of the connecting portion 4, so thatthey cannot be separated until ,the retaining collar 13 is removed to aposition such as shown in Fig. 2;

In order to hold the retaining collar 13 against accidental orunintentional displacement, the connecting portion 4 is provided with ayieldable integral latch or finger 15 that is movable slightly whenpressed toward the body of the hanger to permit the retaining collar 13to slide thereover. When the collar is in locking position as in Fig. 3,the finger 15 overlies the outer portion of the collar 13, see Figs. 1and 3, and effectually prevents its removal. In order to remove thecollar to permit separating the ends of the hanger, the finger 15 ispressed inwardly toward the body of the hanger while at the same timethe collar 13 is engaged and moved over the finger 15 and away fromtheend of the connecting portion 4 to the position shown in Fig. 3 orbeyond, permitting the locking member to be removed. To

'3 attachthe hangerto aside of beeflthe locking-member is insertedthrough a suitable opening in the meat and then positioned in the recessof the connecting portion 14, after which the retaining collar 13 ismoved into locking position.

.The shoulder .11 extends entirely around the base of the locking member"10 'and rests on shoulder 8 which extends entirely around the base ofthe recess 7 in the connecting portion. When the parts are in lockedposition as in Figs. 3 and 6-, the hanger when suspended from a metalhook as'in Fig. 1 will hold a weight of 1000 lbs. or more withoutfracturing, and the hanger can be readily applied to a side of beef byinserting the tapered locking member 10 between tendons or other partsof the shank, then inserting the tapered locking-member 10 into therecess 7, and sliding the retaining collar 13 down into locking positionwhere it is retained by the latch or finger 15.

With this construction, it is impossible for a side of beef to comeloose from the hanger and fall to the floor, as is the case withconventional S-shaped metal hangers, or other types of hangers that havebeen tried. The structure is of extremely light weight and is in no wiseaffected by wear due to contact with the metal support on which thehanger is suspended, since the nylon body will wear indefinitely. Alsothere is no chance of contamination from contact between the meat andhanger,-

and the nylon hanger can be readily and quickly sterilized.

The shoulder 8 which supports the locking member 10 and the weightsuspended from the hanger is preferably 01 wide and approximately 1%" inlength. The rectangular connecting portion 4 is approximately x /2", andthe wall of the connecting portion surrounding the recess isapproximately at its narrowest point.

The conventional metal hangers in use have considerable weight of abouttwo pounds each, and as it is necessary for the consignees to ship thesemetal hangers back to the point of origin for use in further shipments,the expense of handling the metal hangers is a substantial item. Thisexpense is almost entirely eliminated by the use of the nylon hanger,the weight of which is less than 1% ounces, or one fortieth the weightof the metal hanger, and the initial cost is substantially less than ametal hanger. These features, in addition to the sanitary character ofthe nylon hanger and its durability and long life, make it highlyadvantageous over the hangers now in use.

While the invention has been described with reference to the structureherein shown, the invention is not restricted to the details set forth,and this application is intended to cover such modifications,departures, or

other embodiments as may come within the purposes of the improvement orthe scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A detachable hanger comprising when closed a loop-shaped nylon bodyincluding integral symmetrical- :ly curved top and bottom portions andseparable ends along one side, one of said ends having a locking recessand-tho other end having an itegral fixed locking portion engaging saidrecess to maintain the ends in locked relation, a slidable retainingcollar mounted on the end having the locking recess and slidable overthe locking portion when said ends are in locked relation, and ayieldable spring latch lying in'the path of said retaining collar whenin locking position, said latch being integral with and having 'aportion spaced from the body, the latch being yieldably operable towardthe body to move the latch out of the path of the retaining collar topermit movement of the latter away from the ends and permittingseparation of the ends from each other.

2. A detachable hanger comprising when closed a loopshaped nylon bodyincluding integral symmetrically curved top and bottom portions, endportions along one side of the body including separable connecting andlocking portions which are positioned in locked relation, the connectingportion having a semi-circular transversely curved locking recess aroundits base and the locking portion having a shape conforming to andsymmetrical with said recess and lockingly positioned therein, aretaining collar slidable over said connecting and locking portions whenin lockedrelation and acting to hold said parts in locked relation, anda yieldable spring latch integral with said side of the body and spacedfrom the body, said spring latch lying in the path of said collar whenthe parts are in locked relation and being spaced from and yieldablymovable toward the body to release the slidable collar and permitseparation of the ends.

3. A detachable hanger comprising when closed a loopshaped nylon bodyincluding integral symmetrical curved top and bottom portions, endportions along one side of the body including separable connecting andlocking portions which are positioned in locked relation, the connectingportion having a semi-circular transversely curved locking recessterminating at its bottom in a semi-circular shoulder, a locking memberon said locking portion conforming in shape and symmetrical with saidlocking recess and having a semi-circular shoulder lockingly positionedon .said shoulder in the connecting portion, the connecting and lockingportions having exterior rectangular cross sections, and a slidablecollar on the body having a rectangular interior cross sectionconforming to the exterior cross section of the connecting and lockingportions when in locked relation, and a yieldable spring latch integralwith said body and spaced from and movable toward the body, said latchlying in the path of the collar when the latter is in locking positionengaged with the connecting and locking portions and movable out of thepath of the collar when pressed toward the body to permit releasingmovement of the collar and disengagement of the locking and connectingportions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS102,640 Wing- May 3, 1870 1,473,983 White Nov. 13, 1923 2,610,879 PopeSept. 16, 1952 2,801,038 Hamel July 30, 1957

